A tentative introduction

[Kalinka]

Hello,

I'm not sure I really belong on this forum, but I've been reading topics here all evening and find it fascinating. It is especially interesting to me because even though I have only spent about half of my somewhat short life in a post-Soviet-Union country, a lot of the things expressed here by/about Eastern European women resonate with me (even despite the fact that I don't hold many of the same traditional values, especially when it comes to having children). I am originally Ukrainian, but left the country with my family in my early teens and have lived in three other countries since. I am now in my mid-twenties and residing in Scandinavia with my American partner, who is somewhat older. Even though I have citizenship in another country in addition to Ukraine and have not lived in Ukraine in quite a few years, I still identify as a Ukrainian.

Anyway, I'm unlikely to contribute anything overly useful when it comes to international dating discussions here because even though I met my partner online (though not through a dating site) and moved to the other side of the world to be with him, I would not consider our relationship dynamic to be overly that of a Western man/Ukrainian woman, since I have been Westernized from a fairly young age.

Nevertheless, I have joined because there are so many interesting discussions here. I feel like I can learn something about myself and relationship dynamics of other Ukrainian/Russian women through this forum, since like I said much of what is expressed seems to resonate with me, especially what I've seen from the other female posters.

[CanadaMan]

Welcome to the forum Kalinka!
I hope you will stay and contribute to discussions as you see fit.

It is always nice to hear viewpoints that differ a bit from the mainstream FSU natives.
I look forward to reading your thoughts in the current threads and threads to come.

[Anotherkiwi]

   Kalinka!
 
Yes, your experience is a bit different from most people (not just from most FSUW), but I beg to take issue with one of your points:
 

I am now in my mid-twenties and residing in Scandinavia with my American partner, who is somewhat older...even though I met my partner online (though not through a dating site) and moved to the other side of the world to be with him...

Were you living in New Zealand or Australia when you met your partner?  If not, "the other side of the world" would seem to be a slight exaggeration! 
 
Please stay - your background is quite different from the majority of the women members here, most of whom have left Russia or Ukraine permanently only because they are about to marry their foreign husbands, so I'm sure that you will have responses to certain topics which differ quite markedly from those given by some of those other women.

[Kalinka]

Thanks for the welcoming replies!

Anotherkiwi, I was not exaggerating and was indeed living in Oceania! I'm sure when I've gotten to know people here a bit better I will gradually become more comfortable divulging more details about my life and the exact locations I've lived in, so I apologize if I come off a little vague at times

[SANDRO43]

Welcome, and congratulations on your mastery of written English .

[Kalinka]

Welcome, and congratulations on your mastery of written English .

Thank you. I think it's my written Russian that needs to be remastered now, after so many years of speaking English as a first language. That and the language of my new country

[SANDRO43]

the language of my new country

That you will divulge in due course .

[missAmeno]

Welcome Kalinka 

[Patagonie]

Privet

[LAman]

That you will divulge in due course .

Well subtle hints, like 'scandinavia',  leads us to 5 countries. For the moment leaving out Iceland, and maybe Denmark since it seems more western Europe.......maybe Norway, Sweden and Finland!!! In due time maybe we can better guess!!!
   Kalinka
your name reminds me of a song I learned in a Russian language course, a famous song maybe???

[mendeleyev]

Welcome, Kalinka!



LAman, you are correct of course and I believe калинка was the first song I learned in Russia as well.

[SANDRO43]

your name reminds me of a song I learned in a Russian language course, a famous song maybe???

Rather :

"Kalinka" (Russian: Калинка) is a Russian song written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Larionov and first performed in Saratov as part of a theatrical entertainment that he had composed. Soon it was added to the repertory of a folk choral group. The refrain of the song refers to the kalinka, which is the snowball tree (Viburnum opulus).

Viburnum opulus, common name Guelder Rose

[lordtiberius]

Wazup?

curious, what topics made you want to be a contributor than a lurker?

[ML]

Kalinka-Malinka is a nice restaurant in St Petersburg that I ate at several times.

http://www.kalinka-malinka.spb.ru/english/index.htm

[SANDRO43]

Kalinka-Malinka is a nice restaurant in St Petersburg that I ate at several times.

The name (Snowberry-Raspberry) of the restaurant, located in Italian Street , echoes the first 2 lines (chorus) of the song:

Калинка, калинка, калинка моя!
В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя!

[Anotherkiwi]

Anotherkiwi, I was not exaggerating and was indeed living in Oceania!

Then why did you leave?       Could you not convince your new partner that this part of the world is really the greatest? 

[GreenoMan]

Welcome to RWD, Kalinka. 

I am originally Ukrainian, but left the country with my family in my early teens and have lived in three other countries since. I am now in my mid-twenties and residing in Scandinavia with my American partner, who is somewhat older.

I come from Scandinavia. Great to hear people wanting to live there.

Kalinka, tell me how you are managing to integrate in Scandinavia. The Scandinavian natives are often a bit 'cold' and difficult to make acquaintance with. Are you having any problems?